Eizek Yekkels, a Polish young man who lived in Cracow 350
years ago, was a dreamer. He mainly dreamed of being rich. He
worked as a peddler, but was always investing his meager
earnings in the hope of striking it rich. One day his father
came to discourage him from his fantasies. In the course of
the discussion, his father mentioned that his own
grandfather, Eizek's great-grandfather, once almost became
the richest man in the world. Great-grandfather Moishy was
drafted into the army, where he lived by his wits.

The Polish army at that time was fighting a large band of
rebels. Moishy joined with two Polish officers to ambush the
rebels and capture their money. He determined that a large
treasure was being transported in a convoy of coaches, and
then they attacked at and overcame it. At the end, Moishy,
who was supposed to get two-thirds of all the money, gave it
all away to his friends, and only took a little bit to start
a business. Everyone suspects that there is more to the
story, but that is all that is known.

*

"To tell you the truth, I've thought about that inconsistency
for quite a long time," Yankel admitted dryly. "And I'm not
the only one. A large group of people have been trying to
investigate the matter along with me. We visit Warsaw on
occasion, ascertain the names of Moishy's pals at that time,
and then locate them. All of them are wealthy Jews and their
reports are contradictory and unclear. They also have
reservations, and are unsure which version of the story is
true. They say that it is rumored that Polish rebels would
bury dozens of chests in the nearby forest, but then some
sort of a battle would break out, and they would flee.

"Where is Moishy's house located?" Eizek asked.

Without hesitating, Yankel replied: "He lived in this
shack until his final day. This was his house. After
his death, it was abandoned and served as a warehouse, until
your marriage. Then I gave it to you so that you would have
somewhere to live. Of course, I renovated it a bit.

"My father grew up in this house and so did I, and we were
all very happy. Perhaps that is why we made no effort to
clarify the inconsistencies in the story, about which Moishy
himself refused to speak until his final day. The story
became known in town only from the relatives of the Jews to
whom Moishy gave the booty."

At that point, Yankel recalled why he was visiting his son,
and added:

"That's precisely the message I want to convey to you. My
grandfather dreamed of becoming rich. He could have realized
his dream. He had access to enough money with which to buy an
entire city. Apparently he felt that it was better to be
happy than to be rich.

"After all, his children lacked nothing. They had all they
needed and were happy with their lot. Besides, they say that
for years he supported all of Cracow's educational
institutions. When he was alive, no one suspected that he was
the schools' patron. Everyone thought that the schools were
supported by public funds. After his petiroh though,
people understood that the community could have subsidized
only 10 percent of the expenses, and that Moishy had probably
supplemented the rest from his own pocket. Although this
didn't prove that he had money, it caused people to believe
that he was still hiding a chest or two of coins
somewhere.

"Moishy's children and grandchildren led very modest lives
and had no particular ambitions to become rich. But you,
Eizek are different. You always want more and more. Why not
learn from your great-grandfather?"

"Don't forget that at certain stages of his life, my great-
grandfather also dreamt of becoming rich. Perhaps, I have to
go through the same stages in order to be like him eventually
-- first dreaming of becoming rich and then having no
ambition to become rich."

That stumped Yankel a bit. "That"s it. I give up," he sighed
in despair, before taking his leave.

*

As soon as his father had left, Eizek began to search all the
nooks and crannies in his house. If that had been Moishy's
house, there had to be some sort of evidence, some sort of
proof which corroborated the story.

He searched the attic carefully and, after a number of hours,
found a map which depicted a forest area with a path beside
it. The map contained many circles and numbers and showed the
entire Warsaw region.

And so, Eizek decided to travel to Warsaw.

Even his wife didn't protest. The story and the map indeed
seemed to indicate that hundreds of chests with money lay
buried somewhere in Warsaw near the battlefield and that if
Eizek followed the map, he would discover quite a
treasure.

Eizek hitched up a decrepit wagon and set out for Warsaw. It
took him two weeks until he reached an area which had become
a Polish army camp.

Picture this scene: A Jew with a puny horse and a battered
wagon stands outside a military camp, waiting to be allowed
in.

Of course the soldiers weren't impressed by him and sent him
away with a few kicks, similar to those Zaidy Moishy had
received. But Eizek kept on returning, asking to speak with
the commander.

When the commander saw that the Jew was so insistent, he
finally let him in.

Eizek entered the camp and asked to speak to the commander in
private. Once in the commander's office, he said: "I know
that there's a treasure here in your camp. Actually, I
thought of taking it all for myself, but since you own the
place, I have no choice but to invite you as my partner."

Amidst chortles and guffaws, the commander roared, "A Jewish
beggar comes to the camp with a weird story about a treasure
on my premises, and then invites me to share it with him.
That's the funniest thing I've ever heard, and you're about
the brashest person in the world. By my life, if my
grandfather hadn't become rich because of someone like you, I
would issue an order to shoot you on the spot."

"What do you mean by that? Why did you say that your
grandfather struck it rich because of a Jew?" the stunned
Eizek asked.

"Haven't you heard about Heinrich's last battle?"

"Truth to tell, no!"

"Well, a few decades ago there was a large rebellion against
the king of Poland, whose efforts to subdue it cost many
soldiers their lives. My grandfather was the famed General
Heinrich who masterminded that battle. One time, a very large
convoy, which carried all of the rebels' money, was attacked.
The moment the rebels lost their source of support, they were
defeated. My grandfather planned that attack along with a Jew
who had been drafted into the army by force. My grandfather
received a large share of that money and the Jew took the
rest. They say that he divided it among some other Jews and
then disappeared."

"And if I tell you that the money of which you are speaking
is only a small part of the entire sum, what would you
say?"

"I would say that your imagination is working overtime," the
commander answered. "Do you know how many dreams and stories
shroud the account of the Big Battle? For your information, a
few decades ago a group of Jews who claimed that there are
dozens of chests in the forest arrived here. We let them dig,
and after they had uprooted about twenty trees and had dug
around them, we told them to vamoose. Do you want a repeat
performance of that scenario?"

But Eizek insisted: "There's a difference between me and
those Jews. I know the exact location of the trees under
which the treasure is buried."

"How do you know that?" the commander asked.

"Let's say that I dreamed it. Any questions?"

"Well, if you dreamed it, save yourself the trouble of
digging. My grandfather also had dreams about the treasure
and if we had paid attention to them, we would have had to
roam the entire country in search of it. Take my advice and
don't rely on dreams."

"If, after fifteen minutes of searching, I find a chest
filled with money, will you believe me?" Eizek continued.

"Okay, lets go to the forest. But it's so thick that we had
to build a bridge over it, since no carriage can enter it,"
the commander noted.

While the two crept under the bridge, Eizek kept the map in
his pocket, lest the commander try to borrow it for himself.
He recalled some of the numbers and arrows on the map and
understood that they indicated how many trees one had to pass
before reaching the treasure, as well as the direction in
which to walk. When he reached tree number 132, he began to
dig.

Within three minutes, the rake hit a hard object. Hearing the
clink, the commander came to Eizek's aid. Together, they
managed to dig around the chest and to remove it with care.
The chest was very heavy, and with each inch they moved it
their hearts skipped another beat. With trembling hands, they
placed it on the ground and began to pick the lock.

"There are twenty-seven more chests here," Eizek said.

"Where's the next one?" the commander asked.

"Take it easy, sir. We'll open this one, divide up the money,
and then I'll go home and dream where the next one is."

Fearing that the commander might decide to split the treasure
only with himself, Eizek insisted that every chest be opened
separately and that the money be divided separately. The
commander read his thoughts.

The chest was locked and the two smashed the lock with an
ax.

The lock broke.

Eizek opened the chest.

It was filled with earth.

They spilled out its contents, hoping to find a treasure. But
it contained nothing but earth.

"Let's try the next chest," Eizek whispered.

Within half an hour they also opened that chest -- only to
discover that it too contained only earth.

During the next few hours, they dug up five more chests. All
of them were filled with earth. At that point they realized
that if they needed earth, they should continue to dig. But
if they didn't need earth, they could stop searching.

"Listen here," the commander said after some thought. "That
Jew was very mysterious and his entire behavior is very
perplexing. I don't understand why he went to so much trouble
to bury chests filled with earth in my forest."

Eizek sighed. "Nonetheless, my information is precise.
Wherever I searched we found a chest."

"Filled with earth," the commander rejoined.

"Filled with earth," Eizek agreed. "But the fact that the
chests are here still indicates that there's a basis to the
story."

"It has no basis whatsoever. They guy was a nut, who took a
handful of rubles and scattered all the rest. Then he buried
chests filled with earth. Go figure him out."

The two left the forest dejectedly, Eizek feeling a deep need
to get to the bottom of the mystery. He had no doubt now that
his grandfather had made off with most of the treasure. But
how had he managed to take it out of the forest?

*

The following week, Eizek visited one of Warsaw's well- known
merchants, a wealthy man whose own grandfather had been one
of Zaidy Moishy's pals. The man laughed and said that there
were so many versions of the story that he had no idea which
one was true.

Eizek tried to ascertain how much time had passed between the
attack on the convoy and his grandfather's departure. The
rich man replied that according to an unauthorized,
unverified version of the story, a few hours before the
attack some rebels were seen bearing a lot of chests and
heading towards the nearby forest.

Having no choice, Eizek started to ask about the leader of
the rebels and soon located the grandson of the man who had
led the rebels during his great-grandfather's time. The
grandson, who lived alone in a secluded region, still
resented the Polish army for having massacred his grandfather
and his soldiers.

Eizek introduced himself and asked the leader's grandson to
help him sneak into the camp and dig under the bridge without
the commander's knowledge.

The grandson wasn't thrilled with the idea. "I guess you're
looking for the treasure," he jeered. "Well, for your
information, over the years, hundreds of people have looked
for it. What happened was that a Jew, drafted against his
will, did a real razzle-dazzle job and persuaded the army
commanders to attack the rebels' money convey. At the same
time, he made a deal with the rebels to reveal to them the
details of the attack he himself had planned, on condition
that they give him a cut of the money. He marked the coaches
which would be filled with money, and those which would have
chests filled with dirt. According to the plan, the rebels
were to bury the real gold before the attack, which they
indeed did.

"The coaches with the earth-filled chests continued on their
way, bearing brave fighters. When the Polish army attacked
them, it encountered well-prepared and trained soldiers. The
battle was so successful that both sides managed to destroy
each other. Only two or three soldiers remained alive after
that historical battle which marked the end of the
rebellion.

"At the end, the convoy remained in the middle of the road,
but the rebels who hadn't participated in the battle weren't
in the least concerned about abandoning it, since they knew
quite well that it contained only chests with dirt inside
them and that the gold was hidden in a safe place.

"The full extent of the Jew's wily plan became clear to the
rebels only after they had buried their dead, and returned to
remove the treasure from its hiding place. The maps in their
possession had been exchanged at the last minute and the
markings were different. Apparently, the markings had also
been changed, and in the end it was the buried chests which
had contained the earth, while those that remained on the
convoy had the gold.

"The Jew, who despised both the Polish army and even more so
the rebels, had cooked up a savory dish. He had caused them
to kill each other, and afterwards had pointed to one coach
from which he removed five chests. From these he gave the
commander of the army a large sum of money, and he didn't let
his Jewish friends leave empty-handed either. After that, he
sent his friends home and remained behind for half a day,
during which he hitched the coaches which had been correctly
marked and which bore the fortune. Then he disappeared.

"For many years, attempts to find out precisely who he was
were made," the leader's grandson continued. "It seems as if
he presented himself to the rebels as "Moshe Cohen." But they
found that among the Jews that was a very common name and
they could not track him down. The Jew had gotten even with
both sides and had avenged the murders of his relatives by
pitting the Poles and the rebels against each other. He also
retrieved the Polish Jews' assets and returned them to their
rightful owners.

"That's the full story, my friend. Many before you tried to
find that treasure and all were disappointed."

After hearing this version of the story, Eizek realized that
his entire trip to Warsaw had been in vain. True, he had
discovered a remarkable story. But money? Forget about it.

*

As he was planning to return to Cracow, and to poverty and
want, he encountered a troop of soldiers who asked him to
proceed to the commander's office.

Apprehensively, Eizek obeyed. To his surprise, the commander
didn't shout at him, but asked. "Did you really find the
chests according to a dream?"

Eizek hesitated. Should he tell the commander about the map
or let him believe that he had really dreamt about the
locations of the chests?

"You"re probably surprised by my question; so let me explain.
Right before his death, my grandfather, General Heinrich,
dreamt that the great treasure for which he had searched his
entire life is buried under the fireplace in the home of a
certain Jew in Poland. He told me that Jew's first name and
family name, and that he lives in Cracow."

Eizek's hair stood on edge. "What did you say? Under the
fireplace?"

"Yes, under the fireplace, if I recall. Of course I didn't
pay much attention to that dream because my grandfather's
mind was a bit fuzzy prior to his death. Besides, he always
had an 'under-the-fireplace fixation' and would hide all his
money there. He said that the Jew's last words before they
parted at the end of the bloody battle had been: `Hide the
treasure under the fireplace.' It's no wonder that he dreamt
about a treasure located under the fireplace of a Jew in
Poland. Ah, yes, I remember -- Moshe Yekkels. That's the name
he mentioned. Of course my grandfather claimed that he hadn't
been dreaming, but I felt that he no longer could tell the
difference between reality and dreams. I never thought that
would ever go to Cracow because of a dream, until you told me
that you know the location of the chests according to a
dream. Now I think that I really should find out more about
Moishy Yekkels from Cracow. What do you say?"

Eizek burst out laughing, even though inside, he trembled
with fear. "I'd better rid the commander of his notions
about a dream, before I return home to examine my
fireplace," he told himself.

"Do you really believe that I could see the numbers of the
trees in a dream and then remember them? I found a map on
which the trees under which there is a treasure are circled.
That's why I came here. And like you, I was disappointed to
discover we were duped and those chests contain nothing but
dirt instead of money. I also believe that dreams are vain.
Even my dream of becoming rich has fizzled out! I'm going
home to warm myself beside my fireplace, and stashing my
dream of striking it rich. From now on, all I want is to be
happy."

Then, in order to prevent the commander from ever realizing
his dream, Eizek gave him the map. The commander was, of
course, delighted to receive it, and was certain that some of
the chests contained money. He forgot all about his
grandfather's dream, feeling that his own dream had come
true.

*

Eizek Yekkels rushed home to Cracow, and began to dig under
his fireplace. He wasn't at all surprised when he found a
treasure there which made him the richest man in Poland. Like
his great-grandfather, Moishy, he donated vast sums to
educational institutions and to needy people. He also built
Cracow's main synagogue, which still stands today. In his
will, he wrote. "People always search for wealth and
happiness in remote places like Warsaw. But the truth is that
wealth and happiness (osher with an ayin and
osher with an alef) may be found right under
our feet. All one has to do is to pray to Hashem to grant
them to us."

When you're in Warsaw, pop over to the famous bridge under
which people have been digging nearly nonstop for the past
hundred years. Even though it is now 5763/ 2003, you'll still
see a crew of workers, digging and digging. Each one of them
is clutching a photostat of the ancient map Eizek Yekkels
gave the commander in exchange for forgetting the dream.
They're still searching for the treasure which Moishy Yekkels
buried, and haven't the faintest idea that it was found two
generations later by his grandson, Eizek Yekkels.

P.S. Eizek Yekkels is buried in Cracow's famous Jewish
cemetery, very near the grave of the Ramo (HaRav Moshe
Isserles). Beside the grave is a marble tablet on which is
engraved the famous story of Eizek Yekkels' dream about a
treasure under the bridge and about the real treasure he
found under the floor of his very own fireplace.

There are seventy versions to this story, appearing in
various manuscripts. This is the 71st version.

I am grateful to HaRav Asher Gruzman for providing me with
the book of versions.